Information
To provide volunteer time, talents or services to military service members and their families through the new Military Family Support Center: David Johnson at David.Johnson@myCSBonline.com.
General information about the Military Family Support Center: www.commissaries.com or call Susan Edmonds, store director at 478-926-3714
“Don’t call it a commissary, we’re not opening those anymore, this is a Guard Reserve on-site sale,” Congressman Tom Price quipped to the amused crowd at the grand opening ceremony of the Military Family Support Center in Marietta last month.
The new Center is now open each month to benefit the 400,000 eligible Atlanta area service members, 80,000 of them in Cobb County.
The May opening featured commissary privileges hosted by Robins AFB, with groceries discounted as much as 30 percent below retail, and free license renewals through the Department of Driver Services, all for eligible service members and their families. Dr. William Cooper, a cardiovascular surgeon, and Dr. Thomas Emerson, a urologist, were available for referrals and to answer medical questions, as Wellstar nurses and support staff provided blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol screenings.
Veterans, reservists, active duty and retired military service members and their families filled much of the tented areas in the parking lot of the Marietta Plaza Shopping Center on Terrell Mill Road at Cobb Parkway, along with local and state representatives, volunteers, friends and supporters for the celebratory kick-off cook-out.
“This is the first of its kind, but only the first,” Sen. Johnny Isakson declared, referring to the public/private partnership that enabled the Center to open, taking almost three years of planning, patience, coordinating and cutting through the red tape of regulations and bureaucracy. There has not been a commissary in northern Georgia since well before 2011.
Although only open for three consecutive days each month: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, for now, “hopefully, demand will grow it to more than that,” David Johnson, co-chair of the Center, expressed to me.
The next event is scheduled for June 16-18 and in addition to commissary services, companies hiring will be there to connect with veterans, reservists and other service men and women looking for jobs. The American Red Cross will also be available to answer questions or to help get letters and communications to loved ones in disaster areas and war-torn zones.
So far, word of mouth is spreading the news of this new benefit for our military service members, and it’s up to us to help share this information, so that all of those eligible are aware and able to avail themselves and their families.
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